Ceran Infinity:Mask of Arcadius
by ForsakenSpartan
Summary: Post-discovery of a strange artifact in the middle of Dark Space, the UNSC Infinity and the Swords of Sangheillios Shadow of Intent get transported to a strange new galaxy, in which they will have to form new allies, fight a hellish war and find new comrades within this place, while figuring out a way to head back home. (Highly-AU)
1. Prologue:Through Hell We March

**AN:This is my interpretation of what happens if the UNSC Infinity and the Swords of Sangheillios Shadow of Intent get transported to the universe of Sunrider. This is very AU For Halo, chief being 'a little' younger than remembered by most. Thank you to** ** _creamofwheat2311_** **and your story,** ** _The Infinity Effect_** **, for inspiring me to write my take on what would happen if these two great ships ended up in another universe(Much more the Sunrider One), with their crews.**

 **P.S. I own nothing but the idea.**

 **Sunrider Belongs to Love in Space and Halo belongs to Bungie/343.**

* * *

 **Chapter one:Through Hell We March**

 **UNSC _Infinity._ Deep Space.**

 **23rd of May 2558. Two years post-Requiem.**

The young Admiral Lasky walked on-deck, flanked by his two guardian Spartan IV soldiers, aboard the bridge of his ship, the UNSC _Infinity._ The crew snapped-to and saluted from their stations as they saw their Commanding Officer walk there Relaxed. He leaned on the holo-table after saluting back, then looked around at them, shortly locking glances with each, then he turned back to the table.

"At ease." He stated, his hand placed on the cold, grey, metallic surface of the holotable. "Roland, status?"

The holo-table on the bridge flickered to life, and a yellow hologram of a man wearing a padded, fur coat of a World War 2 bomber crewman appeared on it, smiling as he straightened up. The ship's AI, Roland.

"Admiral. Welcome back to the bridge." Roland stated, grinning. "The _Shadow of Intent_ and us are closing in on the Artifact ONI Spoke of."

"Good. You got the link to the _Intent_ 's bridge?" The Admiral inquired, placing a holo-tablet he had received onto the holographic pad Roland's Avatar was emanating out of. The AI Nodded, then the communication screens ahead flared blue, then the image clarified to a Swords of Sangheillios dark-blue and green banner, with two crossed Energy Swords. Ahead of them, appeared an Elite soldier in golden ornate armor, with a sword on his hip and the usual hunchback posture of the Elite. It was the Arbiter, Thel 'Vadam.

"Ah, Arbiter." Stated Lasky with a smile, straightening up. "It's good to see one of our eldest allies to date."

" _I can say the same, Fleet Admiral."_ The Arbiter stated, nodding. " _What do we expect to find in such a... Remote region of space?"_

"A piece of Precursor technology, something that presented itself as a piece of Forerunner tech." Stated Lasky, taking his tablet back into his arms. He examined it thoroughly then sighed and looked at the Arbiter, then nodded. One of his ensigns ran up to him, handing him a second tablet. As he handed the trooper his first tablet, saying a polite _'thank you'_ , he turned his eyes to examining the second one. It was showing motion signatures around the device. Lasky sighed, then looked at the arbiter again.

"We have a situation. Apparently our presence around the tech has activated its guardians. Five Superheavy Sentinel drones are defending it." Lasky said, receiving the slightest of nods from the hunchback alien. He turned toward his troops, nodded, then sat on the command throne, which resided in the middle of the room and looked to Lasky again, sighing deeply.

" _We will have our Seraphs deal with them."_ Stated the Sangheilli. " _Prepare Doctor Halsey for transfer to the artifact."_

"Understood, Arbiter. _Infinity,_ out." Lasky stated, then the screens ahead of him flickered off, then re-appeared, showing the artifact ahead, a rather odd construction, seemingly forerunner, with the drones orbiting around it. Beams of energy shone in the dark of space, alongside the blue coating of shield the 4 Sangheillios fighters. 4 pairs of plasma cannons roared, then the enemy drones shattered, melting, their remains floating out into the space around the strange artifact station...

It resembled a sphere with three cylindrical booms floating mid-orbit around it. A sort of 'mini-planet', or a sentinel, if you will. Something Lasky had read about in multiple declassified reports form Onyx, the place where they trained Spartan-IIIs, and from Halsey's own tellings of the precarious situation they were in on the Forerunner shield world. But this one was different. The Cylindrical booms bent inward, toward and around the Sphere itself, which was heated a dull white, almost as if it had snowed inside. It looked so, at the very least, but it wasn't Forerunner. Apart from the symbols not matching, most of its geometry and lines were utterly different from the ones known to them. Lasky rubbed his chin, squinting to get a closer look at the lines and dots that strafed even the booms.

It resembled a proper small-scale Halo too.

A knot stuck in Lasky's throat. He struggled to swallow, but couldn't. Something was off here. That tech was too odd, too odd for the Forerunners to have created... And it started expanding.

"Roland?!" Lasky demanded. "What's going on?!"

"Sir!" Roland said, pointing toward the device. "Energy fluctuations, mirrored in the station!"

"Warn the _Intent_! Helmsman, full reverse!" Barked Lasky. He llooked at his crewmen ready themselves for the worst.

"Aye, sir!" Answered the crewman. The ship rattled as the engines and thrusters powered to push the ship back, and the crew scrambled. They saw the _Intent_ attempt a retreat too, but it was too late. Whatever that station was, it caught them into a sort of magnetic field. As the ships drew closer and closer, alarms blared and on-screen, the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight drive of the UNSC Ship whistled and whailed. Its inside turned bright white, as if the black hole had collapsed and Lasky grunted, feeling how he nearly got himself knocked off his feet. The strange construct powered and flared... Then everything went white...

...

 **Above Cera. CSF Battleship _Valiant_ bridge. Galactic Year 261 AFHE(After Fall of the Holy Empire)**

Admiral Koris Crescentia overlooked his men and women of the CSF. Their black uniforms rattled as the golden ornaments on them shook from sudden motion. Ahead, out of the main window of the _Valiant,_ the bright blue and green planet of Cera, his home, shone against the expanse of Darkness behind it, which was pockmarked by small sprinkles of white light. Koris smiled lightly as he looked at the planet, examining each and every corner of it. He spotted his home of Cera City, shining bright on the dark side of the planet, then looked toward his second-in-command, Executive Officer Charon Riedan. The man was Koris' most trusted advisor here on his ship, and his closest friend.

"Our home is a beauty, isn't she, sir?" Charon said, smiling as he arranged his glasses back onto his nose with the push of his two fingers.

"Yes, Charon. She is." Snorted Koris, then crossed his arms. "And we're standing to defend it... What's the status with the PACT?"

"Still a good thousand light-years away." Charon said, looking toward the admiral, who nodded.

"Good... Means we don't have to worry about fighting them back just yet." Koris muttered, then peered forward. Two white flashes...

"Oh no... _RED ALERT_!"

Alarms blared on the deck of the ship as soon as he barked the order. The Crimson light filled the otherwise-bright white walls of the CSF ship's command deck. "Give me a sight from the Sattelites!" He barked. On the main viewscreen above the command chair, lit up the images from a pair of outer-system satellites. The sight of two hulking ships, one box-like, painted dull-black with white lines strapped to it and the other, a sea-monster-like design, bulbous hull... Bristling with armaments. The initial scans revealed hundreds of small trinities and dozens of lines of ionized gas from which both laser and plasma could erupt at any moment. Koris sat down in his command chair, then pointed forward. "Fleet. One-half forward! Charge all weapons and power shields!"

 _"AYE!"_ the bridge crew chorused. Koris examined his options now... They could possibly be facing an unknown faction as of yet, which would just mean trouble for them... or some for of new allies? The first ship was clearly human in design. No-one made ships that boxy unless they were the PACT. The other one, though... _That_ was clearly an alien vessel design. He'd take no chances... Hail first, if there's no answer, blast them.

...

 _ **Infinity**_ **bridge. Unknown location or time.**

Lasky groaned as he pulled himself upward, then scanned the bridge. It was shining dark-red, signal of running on emergency power. The crew somehow managed to get back to their stations while he had been... Knocked out... and resume their duties. One of the ensigns walked up to him and handed a tablet. He nodded, then thumbed it and examined the files. The ship was knocked out. Whatever that device that transported them here was, it had disabled the entire vessel. The Forerunner engines didn't respond anymore, nor did the rest of the ship.

"Status on the _Intent_?!" He barked. The ensign nodded.

"Preliminary scans show she's in the same state as us, sir!" Answered one of the scanner officers. No good. Meant that they were both defenseless.

"Status of our power?!" He demanded, looking toward the forward screens. They lit up with a warning, then hissed with static and cleared... The clear sight of space shone ahead of them, answering him.

"Sir! Halsey intervened in the basic power systems!" A second soldier answered. "We've got sensors and visuals up and running! Lights are coming back online too!"

And true to the man's words, the room lit up white again. The holo-table flickered to life too, showing the golden bombardier avatar of Roland, who nodded.

"Sir... Engines and long-range coms are still offline..." He stated. "We're working on getting them back online, but ship-to-ship is also working."

'INCOMING! WE'VE DETECTED FIFTEEN SHIPS ON CLOSE APPROACH! LASER PODS AND MASS ACCELERATION CANNONS AS ARMAMENT! TWO O'CLOCK!" Screamed a woman from the far edge of the bridge. Lasky looked toward the sight... Five bright-white battleships moved toward them at one-half speed. He knew the maneuver. Steady advance, and if they didn't get shot, it'd be all good... Then again, no idea if the _Intent_ was back either... He looked on at the advancing ships with fear, then barked. "Do NOT power weapons just yet! Let them think we're disarmed! Focus on getting our Com online!"

"Sir, yes sir... Attempted hail redirected..." Roland answered... His avatar flickered once, then Cortana appeared beside him and snapped her fingers, grinning.

"Sir... Cortana's got the Com online..." Roland smirked, then looked to the Chief's AI. She nodded.

"Been my pleasure, Roland..." She stated, then tapped her ear toward Lasky. "Second Hail incoming... Should we accept the handshake?"

Lasky sighed in relief, then nodded. "Patch'em through..."

The image of a man clad in a matte-black uniform, covered by golden accents and medals, stood ahead of Lasky on the com screen... The man had silver eyes, golden hair and his uniform was straighter than any Navy Man's uniform he had ever seen. Seeing eppauletes with 4 stars and the rank of admiral made Lasky smile and sigh in relief, then shake his head and look back at the man, straightening up.

"Hello, Admiral..." The UNSC Navy Man said, smiling. However long it took the other admiral, he smiled too, nodding.

"Hello to you too, Admiral..." He answered, then looked to the man at his side and waved him out of the picture. The soldier left, leaving only Lasky and the other admiral.

"I... Guess you want an explanation as to how we're here?" Lasky asked, receiving a nod. "Okay... Send out an envoy ship. We'll talk on your grounds..."

"Understood... That was... A quick decision?" Stated the admiral, a bit confused.

"Well..." Lasky mused, sighing. "It's kind of a long story..."

"Sir... We're being hailed by the _Intent..."_ Reported Holland, a bit surprised. "They say that... They KNEW we were talking to the home fleet here... Sir? Orders?"

"Brief them... Get the Arbiter to come to the meeting with us and if he wants, grab a pair of his soldiers too..."

 **Aboard Ceran Envoy Ship.**

The Master Chief, Petty Officer John-117 walked aboard with Admiral Lasky and Blue Team not far behind. Kelly's helmet shone bright orange in the dull-white lights above them. He didn't like the coloring of the place. A bit too... Sterile for John's taste. Behind him, he saw the Arbiter walk aboard with two Sangheilli guards. The Elite made the first move, extending his hand and flexing his fingers forward in sign of a handshake, which John took and nodded.

"Good to see you again, Spartan." The Arbiter said, his mandibles flexing in a sort of a smile. "Wish it would've been under better circumstances that we got to speak again..."

"Were it so easy." John said, making Kelly chuckle lightly behind him. 'Were It So Easy' was the arbiter's line. He snapped his gaze toward her and she straightened up, saluting. "Forgive me, Chief... I will try to restrain myself."

"Please do..." Lasky whispered. "I'd rather we don't end up making new enemies here..."

The door ahead of them slid open with a hiss, and on the other side of the table, resided two soldiers, both of them clad in white-grey indentured armor, very curved. On their backs, two bright-blue energy weapons shone off, rounded off as well, but a bit boxy toward the heat sinks. The two soldiers parted to the side and straightened up, then saluted, as through the second door, walked the admiral of the fleet they spoke to. The soldier nodded, saluted and the others snapped-too as well. Lasky walked up to him and extended his hand, to which them an grasped it strongly, then nodded.

"Admiral Lasky I presume..." The admiral said, then looked off to the side and gasped as the Arbiter walked in.

"Is there a problem?" The Arbiter spoke, to which the man shook his head.

"No, no sir... Nothing at all..." The man grinned, then looked to Lasky. "Shall we start the talks, sir?"

"Yes. Please do."


	2. Leaving Cera

_**5 years later...**_

Captain Kayto Shields sat aboard the shuttle that was to take him to his ship. The 23-year-old Captain ran a hand through his spiky snow-white hair, examining what lay outside the small glass window separating him from the vacuum of space. Ahead and below, his home planet of Cera, a glistening orb of aquamarine, green and silver, floated in the middle of the large expanse of twinkling stars behind it, a shine Kayto wouldn't have believed he'd see. Not this early in his age anyway. He looked back behind himself, to see the enigmatic Doctor Catherine Halsey examining her tablet thoroughly, her blue eyes lost in the streams of data shining onto it. By her side were two soldiers clad in ballistic armors, painted the Ceran Marines' ultramarine and white. UNSC MA5B Rifles lay by their sides as they saluted the captain upon him turning back toward them.

"Doc." The Captain said. Halsey snapped her eyes out of her strange, almost emotionless trance, sighed and arranged her glasses back from the tip of her nose. The woman was smaller than Kayto in stature, almost a Forehead. Her hair used to be a shade of nutmeg-brown, but now was greyed-out silver thanks to the possibly strenuous ops she and the Spartans of Blue Team have been undertaking back on Cera, aside from the usual drug bust or anything of the sorts. Her blue eyes lay hidden behind a pair of antique glasses she used for reading.

"Something wrong, Captain?" She asked, calm and collected as Kayto looked at her. He shook his head.

"Thought I'd let ya know we're closing in on the ship and that you might want to see something YOU Yourself worked on completed." He stated, receiving a nod from Halsey.

"I helped design two ships..." She muttered. "I trust that they took care of Cortana while she was helping design and build it?" She asked, smallest of smiles forming on her face, so small that Kayto barely saw it.

"I'd suppose so." Kayto mused, then nodded. "Wouldn't want to piss off the Chief, would we?"

"No..." Halsey returned to her tablet, continuing thorough examination of the data she got from an artifact on Cera. "No, we would definitely not want John to be angry..." She continued, fondness, though little if any, making her voice drop a bit. Kayto sighed, nodded and turned back to his window as he looked over the planet. The pilot sat ahead of him, obscured by his seat, but probably smiling as he was the first to catch a glimpse of the ship.

"Can't wait to see your girl, can you, Captain?" He spoke, making Kayto remember one other person he'd meet today aside from the rest of his crew. A woman he still remembered after almost 5 years of separation. He smiled, then loosened into his seat, still examining Cera and sighed, then looked toward the Pilot's seat and spoke calmly. "I and Ava we... Haven't seen each other in 5 years... I'd doubt she even remembered me."

The pilot scoffed, then laughed. "The Commander? No, not her, Cap! The ship. Here, I'll swing you around so you can get a good look at her."

The ship shuddered as small whispers were heard. The Directional Thrusters of the small craft fired, a feeling Kayto had in his stomach. The ship rotated a good 90 degrees for him to finally spot the UNSC-Built Anchor-Class Space Station's Cradle and the ship within it. The _Sunrider._ A sleek design, heavily armored, painted bright-white, with a Crimson stripe across its front, she came to be to Kayto's liking. The Assault Carrier-class ship was heavily armed and very streamlined, but also strangely endearing and powerful-feeling. Like an arrowhead, poised to strike.

"Wow..." Kayto could only utter out as he grinned.

"She's a beauty." The pilot stated. "Ship's so new and state-of-the-art, they had to train a whole new line of Officers just to fly her." He continued, then flicked three switches and keyed his microphone. "Anchor-17, Anchor-17, this is Orbital Shuttle Theta-0-1-7, requesting Permission to dock. I have the Captain of the new ships here along with Doc Halsey and they're just dying to see her, how copy, over?"

" _Copy that, Theta-oh-seventeen. Welcome home, ease her in. Anchor Actual, out."_ The cheery voice of the female controller came over.

Finally, after a few minutes of 'easing her in', Kayto found himself walking aboard under escort by the two Ceran/UNSC Marines, Halsey not far behind him. The hangar of the CSF ship _Sunrider_ was the size of a medium-large carrier, cavernous, with 20 Holding Cradles for the technology that replaced the basic fighter within the span of a few thousand years. The Ryder attack Mechs. Though none were present within the massive white-red hangar of the CSF Navy vessel, the Attack Mechs were of many classes. From the simple scout 'mook' or 'soldier', to the heavier, more combat-oriented classes and even support classes, that could deploy shields to aid the rest of the crew. Kayto looked ahead, snapping out of his examination as a woman with nutmeg-brown hair and Cherry eyes walked toward him, straight military posture, beautiful and fair-skinned. Her uniform was clean-cut the best-arranged out of the whole crew, her short-to-the-knee skirt leaving nothing to chance. She stopped in front of Shields and Halsey and saluted.

"Doctor, Captain. Welcome aboard the CSF _Sunrider._ " She stated, receiving a nod from Kayto.

"It's been far too long, Ava." He said, taking the young woman completely by surprise. A bit of shock read across her face as she rubbed her forearm.

"I guess so..." She said softly, then looked back toward them, clicking her heels. "Doctor, Captain, if you two wish, I'll take you on a tour of the ship."

"Very well. Lead on." Kayto said, nodding. Ava nodded to him too, then straightened up. "As you can already tell, this is the Hangar of the ship, where up to 20 Ryders may be stored for refits and deployment. Our Ryders won't arrive until next week, with a complement of UNSC Marines from the Infinity and Sangheilli Elites from the _Shadow of Intent_ , when she returns from her Deep Space mission. You may also come here to order equipment changes and refits for all Ryders upon their arrival."

"If it wasn't for the UNSC Techs' intervention, this Ryder bay would've been 8 Ryders short." Halsey said, sliding her tablet into her backpack.

"So, 12 Ryders?" Kayto muttered. "Still, a big complement for this kind of a vessel."

"Yes, indeed." Ava said, nodding. "Follow me, please." She continued. The trio, under escort by the marines, walked toward a smaller bay, indented within the Ship's sides. Much to Kayto's surprise, he saw five Weapon racks filled to the brim with UNSC Weaponry, from the simple M6 Magnums to highly-advanced 'Spartan Lasers' and even to silenced M7/Caseless Submachineguns with Holographic scopes. On the right wall, large one-man pods were aligned in their holding cradles, open wide. The seats inside were leather-covered and around them, electronics and control pads, everything a vehicle needed.

"This is the Single-Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle room. SOEIV room, or the Helljumpers' Nest as Gunnery Sergeant Buck has called it." She said. Halsey nodded and examined the pods, placing a hand upon one's cold steel.

"The ODST Drop Room. Good, they took my suggestion to have one of those." She smirked, nodding.

"Very well... Continuing on..." Ava answered as they walked out of the room. They exited and went down a small staircase into the belly of the ship. There, they saw seven Gyroscopic machines on which pieces of heavy MJOLNIR Generation II Armor resided, one of which was painted a dull-white with golden pockmarks. The armor was a mashed set, a Reconnaissance Helmet, a CQB Chest plate, a Mark V left shoulder and Heavy Combat right, padded legs for protection and a pair of knives strapped to both shoulder pads. Kayto walked up to it and picked the helmet up and off the arm on which it resided, examining it. The visor was bright blue, a small slit through which only the eyes would peer through.

"Ah. The S-Deck's smaller relative aboard this ship." Halsey said, examining the files of the persons to which the armors belonged. She nodded, happy about the results though not showing it, then slung the tablet under her arm again. "This is where this ship's SPARTAN Contingent will be spending their time, mostly... And I Can already tell who it is..."

"You always knew us, ma'am." Stated the voice of a male, rough and powerful. Kayto looked back, to see a squad of five men and a single female walking down from the deck, the female sporting a robotic right arm in place of the left one she had lost during combat. This squad was a group Kayto had heard and read about. During the Reach Defense, this team held ground as the only thing between the planet and utter annihilation. A group of brave soldiers, no... Of Brave SPARTANS. The Spartan-III Team, NOBLE, were well known for their bravery and courage during the defense of Reach and as its heroes.

"Captain Shields, Commander Crescentia, Doctor Halsey." Their leader, Carter, stated, nodding and running his hand through his crew-cut raven hair. The man had hazel eyes, tanned skin and several cut marks across his face, on his chest, the ID Number of the Spartan Corps. A259. Alpha Company's 259th candidate and a hero in his own right. He had learnt to command since an early age, an elite fighter, born to be like he was.

"Ah, Lieutenant-Commander." Halsey said, extending her right hand. The soldier shook it, then nodded.

"Good to see you again, ma'am." He stated, then looked to Jorge, their Spartan-II Comrade, walking down. Halsey gave him the smallest of smiles, then nodded. The rest of the squad, Kayto knew all-too-well from his read-up information. Catherine-B320, NOBLE's NCO and Carter's close friend, she bore a grin and, now, since Reach, has grown her raven hair out to her shoulders. Tanned herself. Jun-A266, the team's sniper, a bald man with a spiderweb tattoo on the right of his face and finally, the enigmatic Emile-A239, the squad's Grenadier and CQC Specialist, but there was one among the crew Kayto didn't recognize... Two, for that matter. A younger girl with bright-silver hair and emerald eyes and a man about her age with blue eyes and brown hair.

The boy walked up to Kayto, then extended his hand, to which Kayto shook it and nodded. "You are?"

"I'm Noble Six. Lieutenant Cole-B312. Good to meet you, captain." He answered, nodding. The woman looked toward Kayto and spoke in a harsh, very cold tone, enough to send shivers up even god damn Halsey's spine, much more the rest around her. "I am Veronica-B361. Cole's sister. An honor to meet the man we'll be serving with."

"Uhh..." Kayto rubbed the back of his head, then nodded. "Same... Cole... Veronica..." He looked to Halsey, who sighed and nodded.

"We're prepping for MJOLNIR Gen-II Tests." Carter said, gesturing to the pods. "Sooo..."

"Right." Ava said. "We'll be out of your hairs now, Lieutenant-Commander. Watch out not to dent the ship's insides TOO MUCH."

"Noted." Carter smirked, then looked to his squad. "Spartans, Gear up."

...

Kayto walked aboard the bridge and to his sights, came the biggest he'd ever been on aside from the battleships of the CSF Fleet while touring as a rookie. The cavernous place didn't have one empty spot in its whole area. Consoles and catwalks dotted whatever space you'd consider free, while in the middle of the room, a holographic table which could display the map of the Galaxy they were currently in resided, turned off. On the deck, two CSF Marines carrying BR55X Battle Rifles shouldered them and snapped crisp salutes at the Captain and Commander walking aboard. On the consoles, the crew of the bridge were working continuously, ensigns left and right, and around the holomap, they saw two UNSC soldiers, a man and a woman, examining different bouts of data.

"ONI." Halsey whispered with disgust. "Ignore them. They'll be of no trouble to us."

"I hope so." Kayto answered, then looked to Ava settle in her chair near her command console, right beside the Captain's chair. He looked to Halsey, who nodded and then left for the lift. She called it and switched to the Engineering deck of the ship, leaving with a quiet hum. Kayto walked toward his seat, then turned it around. It spun around its axis, toward him. Jet-Black leather covered the comfortable parts of the seat, while on the armrest and on a forward support resided Holographic controls and even data taps and screens. He sat down, examining the chair to its smallest detail. He then looked to Ava, who nodded.

"Ship AI is active..." Ava said, nodding. Shock read across Kayto's face. He didn't hear about any sort of Artificial Intelligence being implanted into the _Sunrider._ Hundreds of times had he heard that the _Infinity_ had her own 'Smart' AI, but never did he hear that HIS ship would have one. He was shocked as ahead of him, the Avatar of a young woman, clad in bright blue light, her 'skin' embedded with code lines of zeroes and ones running up and down her entire body, materialized like out of thin air. She straightened up, saluted, then spoke in a voice very similar to Halsey's, proud too.

"UNSC AI Cortana, ID Code CTN 0452-9, at your service." She stated, smiling. "Ah, doctor Halsey. Good to see you again."

Halsey nodded from her spot within Engineering. " _Same to you Cortana. I take it your core defragmentation went well?_ "

"Yeah. Heightened my lifespan by 10 more years, thanks for asking." She smiled slyly, then looked to Kayto. "Captain." She bowed, then straightened up. "I'll be glad to serve aboard here as this ship's Artificial Intelligence."

"Uhm..." Kayto mused, then smiled and nodded. "Glad to have you aboard, Cortana..." He shot a cold glance to Ava. "Once we're out of port, I'd like to talk with my XO About unannounced staff, but anyways, welcome aboard."

"Sir." Cortana snapped-to, then flicked three Holo-panels around her. "We're ready to begin engine testing on your mark."

"Very good... Spool them up, push us out, one-half-full." Kayto answered, nodding to Cortana and Ava.

"Aye, aye, captain." Ava said, slowly writing commands onto her console's holographic touch display. Three dim lights flickered and the ship hummed as around him, the bridge lights blinked Orange twice.

A red light.

"Two contacts, coming out of warp, bearing Five-zero-zero by Seven-Seven-Three!" Cortana yelled, her Avatar flaring red as she tried to track the incoming bogeys, her arms continuously striking against holographic keys surrounding her. Five more panels appeared around her, _Weapons, Shields_ and _Engine Countdown_. She refocused her blue eyes onto the radar, then flicked it on, to show the two bogeys, strange-shaped craft with missile racks around the main part, in a Three-Dimensional model. "ID Matches PACT Missile Frigates! WE'VE GOT HOT INCOMING!"

Out in the darkness of space, the two PACT Light Frigates skimmed through space, their crimson-red hulls shining off in contrast to the darkness of the space around them. The two craft had circles etched behind them onto their hull, their Ion engines burning bright red and lighting the hull up. The circles were their warp rings, old technology for these times, yet still very useful for quick deployment and exit out of Warp. The Frigate Duo loaded their missiles into the racks, the gunners took aim and the barrage of missiles howled off. The thirty small 'Helldart' rockets arched through space, leaving exhaust trails in a crisscrossing pattern as they headed for the Anchor Station's cradle. In his chair, Kayto clenched his teeth. His ship was too slow to power up...

And finally, just as the missiles impacted the hull of the Anchor Station's Cradle, setting it ablaze, the ship pushed itself out of there under its own power. Behind them, the Cradle was now nothing more than a heap of twisted metal and burning fuel lines, but the ship pushed itself free. Kayto held his resolve, trying not to cheer until they were out of the frying pan. He looked at the Combat Screen deployed by Cortana, then nodded and looked to both Ava and her.

"Turn us around, 180 Degrees! Get us engaging those damned Reds!" He barked. Ava nodded, then began furiously tapping commands on the console, while Cortana's Avatar flared as she engaged in Cybernetic combat with the Frigates and their crews. She flicked off several screens, then powered five others on, showing lines of code as of yet unrecognized by Kayto. He felt and heard the rumble and creaking of the hull as the _Sunrider'_ s directional thrusters flared, pushing the ship 180 degrees portside. It banked and its cannons were now level for the enemy ships. He grinned, then barked. "FIRE SAVIOURS! FORWARD SALVO!"

"AYE!" Cortana barked, loading the weapons up on her HUD, seeing their status.

The hull of the massive ship groaned as three detonations sounded off from the front of the ship, then three more. Ahead of them, Kinetic Energy rounds arched toward their targets from the three-barrel Savior Cannon Batteries. The first Salvo struck the left-side ship, tearing it completely apart. The ship blew apart, a second sun enlightening their path. A shot grazed the other's hull, tearing two Decks' seals off. Kayto saw bodies fly out, breathed in, out and ordered. "STARBOARD TRINITIES! FIRE!" And from the side of the ship, lances of blue hardlight energy arched forward, gutting the other ship and tearing it completely in half. The beams struck its drive core and it blew apart, another bright detonation that soon extinguished in the darkness of space.

The bridge erupted into an uproar of Cheers as Kayto exhaled, smiling. He looked to Ava, who nodded, then turned back to her data screens. Cortana turned toward the Captain and gave him a thumbs up, smiling. Kayto nodded to her and gave her the same treatment, then settled into his chair and spoke softly "Ava. Get us in-line with the rest of the fleet... We need to be prepared for any more surprises..."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Ava said, clicking two more commands. Ahead of them, they saw the four Battleships of the CSF lined up in formation, alongside several hundred other smaller support and reconnaissance craft, including UNSC Longswords, Broadswords and even three UNSC-modeled frigates, Paris-Classes. Kayto sighed, then looked about, noticing Cortana's mouth agape.

"Commander..." She whispered, sending a scan toward Ava's datapad. The woman flicked the file on and gasped.

"NEW CONTACT!" She yelled.

Outside of the Planet's Gravitational pull, just in sight for the rest of the Fleet to see, appeared a fleet of combat vessels and in the middle of them all, initial scans revealing it as 3 Kilometers Long, a ship of such size it was incomprehensible why it was built... An enemy Dreadnaught. A PACT DREADNAUGHT! The thing sized 3 Kilometers in length, 1 and a half in width and half a kilometer in height. External booms expanding from its central warp Ring stood out like sore thumbs and it was bristling with weapons, also painted the bloody-crimson red of the PACT Fleet... Kayto was in complete shock, like most of the fleet's and ship's crew. Cortana tried to scan it, failing twice, then looked to Ava.

"Ava, what the hell am I looking at?! I didn't know PACT Had something this colossal!" Kayto demanded, slamming his hand into his Chair, Ava looked on in awe.

"I'm just getting this Data! It's the PACT Superdreadnaught _LEGION_!" She yelled, then gasped. "ENERGY SPIKE DETECTED FROM DREADNAUGHT! BRACE!"

From the dreadnaught's booms, emerged lances of pure red energy. They arched from their field generators, forward, knifing through space at incredibly high speeds. As they reached the CSF Fleet, they barely had the time to react. The lances impacted the fleet, gutting two ships from the get-go, including the Paris-class Frigates, which had exploded after the insanely perfect impact, even after the Hardlight Shield tech had been installed. Three of the Four Battleships had sunk thanks to that strike. The _Sunrider'_ s Starboard decks had been impacted. Now leaking air, nothing more than melted metal and armor resided there. That side's Trinities had been welded shut thanks to the pinpoint strike.

Ava swallowed, her eyes narrowed. "Such _disgusting_ firepower..." She whispered, then looked at the data. "CAPTAIN! UNSC FRIGATES _Dawn of Hope_ AND _Patriarch_ HAVE BEEN SUNK! THE _Preliator,_ _Reaper and Creedence_ HAVE BEEN SUNK! _Valiant_ HAS WITHSTOOD HEAVY DAMAGE AND IS DEAD IN THE WATER! THE CREW ARE EVACUATING!" She gasped, clutching her console. "ANOTHER ENERGY SURGE!"

"This one's _big_!" Cortana Yelled, scanning the room and the worried glances of the crew.

 _"HARD TO PORT!"_ Kayto barked, strength in his voice.

The front of the _Legion_ heated from dull-red, to a bright orange, then to a burning white as its frontal Phasic cannon charged. It powered, particles of dark matter gathering within the barrel. The energy swirled within the strange ball of light and it shot. The lance of energy split the darkness of space, maddeningly brightening and whipped past the dodging _Sunrider_ , which was now limping to get away. Behind them, Cera's atmosphere heated and below it, a detonation of an incredible scale lit where Cera City had once resided. Kayto held himself from screaming out loud at the sight, clutching his chair's armrests, looking at the burning, bubbling crater that once was their home and whispered to Ava...

"What the _hell_ just happened..."

"Captain... They nuked Cera City with that last Salvo! I'm barely getting the casualty reports from that strike, but... Oh My Gods..." Ava whispered, now thankful she was sitting in a chair. The woman nearly fainted as she looked at the number. Cortana turned toward the Captain and yelled. "CAPTAIN! The ship's Slipspace drive is charged! We're good to go on your orders!"

Kayto swallowed, then looked at his burning homeworld and nodded. "Get us the hell out of here!" He ordered. Ahead of the ship, space rippled with energy, turned in on itself then blasted open. The ship pushed itself forward and entered the black hole inch by inch. As Kayto took one last look at his burning homeworld, he swore an oath. This was not it. Not by a long shot. He'd go to hell and back to see it freed again. As it vanished into the darkness, Kayto sighed, then leaned back, nodding. He'd get back at PACT...

And get back at them _DAMN GOOD._


	3. Tydarian Mishaps

**A week Later...**

 _Begin Captain's Log..._

 _It has been a week since the Fall of Cera to the PACT War machine... The_ Sunrider _and us, its crew, made it off and are currently waiting at the Secondary Rendezvous point for the fleet... The crew are beginning to get Restless... Whisper among ranks is that we're the one and only ship that made it out of that massacre and to be honest, I'm starting to believe it more and more too... If just one ship would show itself now from the CSF, I'd be smiling, but I can't right now... Not with PACT holding our homes... Not with the situation we're currently in..._

 _End Captain's Log..._

Kayto sat down in his chair within his luxurious Captain's room, staring out into the darkness of Space. A week since their escape, all they've been doing is scanning up and down the same sector. He ran his hand through his thick white hair, then sighed as he remembered a few details from his past. The man, only a boy back then, had been taken aboard by Ava and her father toward the signing of the treatise that made the ship he was standing on possible. The treatise with the UNSC _Infinity's_ captain and that Alien representative. He remembered it like it was yesterday as he leaned back into his chair...

 _ **Five Years Ago. Above Cera, CSF Envoy Ship.**_

 _Admiral Lasky sat across the table from Koris, both men unrelentingly staring each other down. Lasky had heard of strange treaties before, strange demands. This one beat them all to the punch by a hundred._

 _"You're saying you want_ us _to help you? Help you how, Admiral Koris? We don't even know where we are." Inquired Lasky, his steely gaze set on the man's unflinching expression. Koris nodded, then tapped his Holo bracelet and flicked images of warships painted crimson red onto the table ahead... Hundreds of them, if not thousands in a single fleet. The PACT. Koris had spent the last two hours explaining the crew of the_ Infinity _and_ Shadow of Intent _their precarious situation with the large Empire just East of them. They heard a quiet_ ding _as the doors behind Koris slid apart, to reveal a slim girl with long and wavy nutmeg hair, Cherry eyes and a fair skin. She had the posture of a military officer, accentuating that by snapping a salute at Koris, who turned to greet her, a wide smile on his face._

 _"Father." She stated, smiling as she held a salute._

 _"Ah... Ava..." Koris saluted the girl too, then hugged her tightly and backed off, seeing another boy walk on-deck. He smiled as the boy extended his hand, then shook it. "Good to see you as well, mister Shields..."_

 _"Same to you, Admiral, sir." Kayto said, then looked past the man, toward Lasky and the Arbiter, upon whom his gaze remained for what was half a second. The boy received an elbow in the stomach. Grunting in pain, he shot a glance toward Ava, who signaled him to move off to the side. The pair left, Kayto's gaze remaining stuck upon the Arbiter. The Alien creature nodded to him, then turned back to the discussion._

 _"Admiral, you must understand..." Lasky sighed. "We... We have no way of helping you. We're just two ships and their captains you're speaking to here."_

 _"And you're preaching to the converted, Admiral Lasky..." Sighed Koris. "We can get you accustomed to our situation, to what we need and to our current fears... Nothing else we can do, but we're asking for a group to defend us from the PACT should they end up near our homeworld. What do you say?"_

 _"We'll See..." Lasky said, then looked to the Arbiter, who nodded._

 _"I do not see an alternative to what else we can do, Admiral... My Elites may not be to keen on this idea, however... I will try to get them to change their ideas."_

A doorbell interrupted Kayto's trail of thought. He sighed, standing up, then looked to the door. "Come on in..." The door slid apart, revealing Doctor Halsey and the overworked Ava. Both women had bags under their eyes, walking slumped, tired compared to their usually straight postures. Ava took three steps up to the heightened positions where the office was. Ava eyed Kayto, then sighed and handed him her holo without adding another word to it. He looked on, proud to see what was around the ship. The _Infinity_ and _Intent_ had Slipspaced in beside them... A happy break after a week of searching for help like madmen.

"Sir..." Ava whispered, barely able to speak. "At least we know the Sangheilli and the UNSC Hadn't been caught in the cannons of that PACT Monstrosity... I told the Admiral and Arbiter about our situation... The Arbiter's coming aboard, an addition to our crew to even out the stakes..."

"Great..." Kayto whispered, leaning back onto his chair. "Status on the Crew?"

"Stretched to the thinnest of their powers." Halsey said, then yawned. "You could say I've seen better days myself..."

Kayto leaned onto his desk, his hands crossed under him, holding him up., then nodded. "Ship status?"

"She's seen better days..." Ava said, flicking through images of the Ship's outside on the holo. "Our starboard trinities are welded shut, our engine's not working well and..." She sighed. "The worst part is, the _Infinity'_ s out of Repair drones..."

Kayto groaned and rubbed his eyes, then leaned forward on his hands. "Then what can we do?"

"Tydaria is close by..." Halsey said. "Roland just told me the _Infinity_ was helping deal with some pirates there when they jumped here." She sat down in one of the easy chairs. Ava looked to Kayto, knowing the question that was about to come from him.

"No..." She whispered. "No other ship made it out-system... We're the only ones."

Kayto sighed, then nodded and stood up, grabbing his Holo as well. He motioned toward Ava and Halsey and the two stood up. The trio walked toward the door and Kayto stopped Ava in her tracks while Halsey was heading out. He closed the door, then leaned on the wall next to it and scanned the room, then stopped at Ava yet again. The girl's cherry eyes looked more tired than ever before, even after all the late nights they'd spent on that paperwork during high-school. She sighed, then crossed her arms.

"What is it?" She inquired. He nodded, then walked toward his table, picking up a small device that lay on it.

"Ava... Tell me... What do we do now that Cera's gone? You could say we have no flag to fly..." He said, then looked to her again, serious. "And what's a ship without a Flag?"

"A pirate ship." Ava said, stiffening posture. Kayto scoffed, then placed the device back onto the table and walked to Ava, arms crossed himself, and looked the girl in the eye.

"I have no intention of becoming a pirate captain." He said, to which Ava shook her head.

"I wasn't suggesting that... We have the _Infinity_ and _Intent_ to back us up, so we're not flagless..." Ava said, then turned toward the door. It hissed open, then he nodded to her.

"Good point... Meet me at the bridge, Commander... We're setting course for Tydaria." He smirked, to which Ava nodded and saluted.

"Aye, sir!"

 ** _CSF Sunrider Bridge._**

Kayto walked on-deck. The bridge was once again teeming with life as Ensigns and troops moved about hurriedly, preparing for the Slipspace jump to Tydaria. Kayto strode to his chair and sat down, comfortably settling himself in, then looked ahead, out of the main viewport of the ship. The _Shadow of Intent_ and _Infinity_ dwarfed the _Sunrider_ by hundreds of meters and Kayto could see just how armed and armored their friendlies were. The _Intent_ was bristling with Laser Trinities of all shapes and sizes, and at the top and bottom of the ship, there were several Plasma Conduits and Cannons, from which the shots could be shaped and directed. The Laser trinities shone purple and Kayto could see the faint ripple of the ship's shields surrounding the bulbous hull. He nodded, then looked to the _Infinity._

The Kinetic MAC Cannons at the front of the ship dwarfed the _Sunrider'_ s Saviors by size, but in speed, they were technically the same. Added to complement the Matte-Black ship's deadly frontal-facing weaponry were rocket pods, inserted into the pads of the UNSC Ship's hull. Anti-Air and Anti-Ship cannons were hanging around each side of the vessel, same size as the Saviors, about the same stopping power, but faster firing rate. The faint golden ripple of the ship's Hardlight shields surrounded it as well. Both ships were a sight to behold, and something Kayto was glad they could call Allies.

"Captain." Cortana said, her Avatar flickering to life on her added pad, straight ahead of the chair. "The two ships will be headed off in different directions than us. They've left us two Broadswords and a Seraph fighter to escort us toward Tydaria." She turned to face the hulls of the other ships and smiled. "Slipspace drive is spooled up and ready for the jump to Tydaria..."

"Good." Kayto said, then nodded. "Get us to Tydaria, best speed."

"Aye, aye." Cortana said, then looked to Ava, who nodded.

"Gravitational Anomalies cleared... Slipspace coils are charged." She stated, then flicked a few buttons and tapped her screen once. "Initiate jump to Slipspace."

As the _Sunrider_ dashed past the UNSC and Sangheilli ships, ahead of it, the space rippled blue with lightning, then erupted into a blue-and-black rotating whirlwind. The CSF Ship flew through and the dull blue of Slipspace filled the craft's bridge. The 'non-location' they were currently in meant that they were travelling at incredible speed toward Tydaria. Kayto leaned back in his chair, then nodded to Ava.

"ETA to Tydaria, 5 hours." She said, a more relaxed tone to her voice. "Better settle down and be ready."

 _ **Sunrider**_ **S-Deck. NOBLE Bunk.**

Kat, Noble Two, sighed, examining her newly-handed Prosthetic arm. A titanium composite shell with the weightlesness of Aluminum, grafted into her bone and into her nervous system. Painted like human skin, she could feel through it. The metallic composite felt like it had part of her nerves within it, like it was blood flowing through it, not whatever hydraulic goop kept the arm moving... She could move it like it was her old arm. Every move she made didn't strain the bloody thing at all. It actually made her arm seem properly human. Carter, Noble One and Cole, Noble Six, sat on the far side of the room, chatting about possible situations and possible ideas for getting back at the PACT, whilst, ahead of Kat, Six' sister, Veronica, Noble Seven, walked up, then sat down.

"How's your new arm feel?" She asked. Kat grinned and nodded.

"Like my old human one didn't leave my body." Kat said, giving her a thumbs up from that arm. Veronica grinned, then leaned in.

"There's an Officer's Bar here that we can go raid if you want to." She said. Kat shook her head, then laughed.

"Jeez, Veronica." She said, then sat up and walked to the armor bays, keeping up chatter.

"So, I hear we're going to that Mining Guild planet, Tydaria..." Seven mused, arms crossed. "Any idea of what we should expect there?"

By a matter of fact, Kat hadn't considered how the hell she survived Reach for a while, and that was taking up most of her thought. In truth, she couldn't even think of Tydaria or where the hell they may end up. She examined her MJOLNIR Gen-II Armor while trying to figure how to put into words what she was thinking. She tapped commands on the armor bay's systems, put her techsuit in place, then walked up to the gyroscopic device. She stood in the middle of it and the mechanical arms powered. With quiet whirrs and loud clangs, her armor locked into place. The new AIR ASSAULT Suit she requested fit perfectly, and with the added modifications, at least the ones she'd gotten away with, it made her feel twice as safe. She nodded to Seven, then crossed her arms as she took her helmet off her head.

"Probably pirates." She answered truthfully. "Considering it's what the _Infinity_ had reportedly fought."

"Saw Cera get nuked?" Veronica inquired, leaning back. Kat nodded.

"I was... On the Observation Deck... Saw that damned Super-dreadnaught, Legion..." She smirked, a strange change of personalities from her current predicament "Good thing is, we have a bigger one."

"So, what will we be doing here?" Veronica asked, standing up "I hear most combat goes on Ryder-to-Ryder or Ship-to-Ship. We're gonna be, what, security detail?"

The Spartans snapped out of their seats as a pair of hooves clanked onto the deck ahead of them. An Elite clad in Golden ceremonial armor stood face-to-face with them, holding an energy weapon's hilt. His beady brown eyes stared at each Spartan, then he nodded. The hunchback creature extended its hand toward Carter and the Spartan shook it, calmly, then nodded "Good to see you, Arbiter."

"Same to you, Commander." The alien looked to the others "Spartans."

"Who'd ya leave in command of your ship, Arbiter?" Six asked, crossing his arms. The Arbiter nodded and walked toward one of the Terminals there and spoke calmly "I left Shipmaster Vadum to deal with my ship." He looked back to the Spartans "Tydaria is not too far away. The sheer thought of facing Pirates instead of the crimson-wearing creatures that hit Cera again makes my blood boil..."

"Want to get back at the PACT as much as we do, do ya?" Veronica smirked, receiving a calm nod from the High-ranking elite.

"Yes." He said, then started walking to the door "I must meet with captain Shields, discuss what his strategy to retake Cera and deal with PACT may be..."

"Hope he's got a good one..." Jorge muttered from his corner, looking back at them "We all know the bastards nuked Cera City."

"I am quite sure he does..." Arbiter nodded to Jorge "I have also brought my personal Seraph fighter to add to the ship's squadron... I hear you have your SABRE craft already aboard as well?"

"Yeah." Six nodded, grinning "We meet anything, we got plenty of ammo to deal with'em." He started to walk beside the Arbiter "I'll be moving with ya, Arbiter. You need an escort while aboard, don't you?"

"Yes. Thank you for your offer, Noble Six." The Arbiter nodded, then the pair walked out of the room with Veronica grinning. Carter looked to her and shrugged, then she tilted her head back "My, oh my if you knew how much this kid wanted to meet them Ayys without having to worry about shooting each-other dead... When the war ended and we had a truce with the Sangheilli, he was _STOKED_."

"Mhm, I bet." Kat quipped, then looked to her armor pad "Alright, might wanna lock-n-load. We're nearing Tydaria."

* * *

On the bridge, Kayto sat in the captain's chair, overlooking every ensign aboard scrambling to their stations. Ava was already at hers, rapid-fire typing commands relating to their newest heading. Space blinked and ahead, a sea of stars reappeared. A glittering red orb stood millions of kilometers from them. Tydaria, a Mining Guild world that didn't have much sightseeing to do. Yellow alert sounded off in the ship's quarters and the bridge lights blinked amber. Ava looked over her console, while Cortana's Avatar was working strenuously on figuring out how far away they were, a job done in a second and what was coming. She turned toward the captain and Ava and said,

"Unidentified Contacts, at our 1 o'clock high."

"Spotted..." Ava said, now switched to the radar on the console "ID Codes don't match PACT, Mining Guild or Ceran, not even Alliance..."

"Receiving hail..." Cortana said, looking over the com network "Lead Ryder, Bomber-classification. Callsign:Havoc..." She growled "Pirates..."

"Great... Patch the contact through..." Kayto said "And launch SABREs."

"NOBLE and the Arbiter already reported Hangar-Side. Being launched as we speak." Cortana said, then looked to the com "Patching Havoc's pilot through..."

On the com relay, materialized the 3D Holographic image of a young girl, seemingly no less than 12, wearing a purple flight suit with the number -07- etched onto the left side of her chest. She was short of stature, had bright golden hair and cobalt eyes, and a devilish grin that sent a chill up Kayto's spine. Cortana's too, if she had a spine. However young she seemed, her Ryder was deadly as hell. A 30 Milimeter Gatling FLAK Gun strapped to the right arm, a chainsaw to the left for melee capabilites, thick frontal armor and four backside-mounted Torpedo cradles, which were all full.

The girl's evil cackle resounded through the com, then she pointed forward at Kayto "Well, hello there." She smirked, then looked around the deck "Who might you be, right now?"

"I'm Kayto Shields, captain of the Ceran Space Force ship _Sunrider_. Disengage, or we will use lethal force!" Kayto barked, looking at the woman. She laughed, making Kayto back off, slightly ajar at this girl's defiance "Cerans? I thought you people surrendered to PACT!" She looked awfully pleased with herself "Your ship seems like it'd fit my fleet just right... Well..." She grinned a gain, a darker one this time "At least, when we'll be done with you. Prep boarding parties, boys!"

"Aren't you a little too small to talk like that, kiddo?" Kayto inquired "C'mon, don't make this hard on either one of us."

"W-What..." The girl said, bowing her head. "Did you just call me..." She bellowed with rage "LITTLE?!"

Ava sighed, rubbing her forehead "Captain... Please do not provoke the enemy..."

"GET THAT SHIP! But leave smart-mouth to me! I wanna cut his head off, PERSONALLY!" The young pilot barked, then closed the com shut. Ava sighed, then looked to Kayto "Pirate squadron on approach, lead by Havoc."

"Red Alert." Kayto said, calmly. The alarms of the ship blared crimson, weapons warmed up and engines roared to life. Kayto looked to Ava, who nodded and flicked a holographic image of the area they'd be fighting in, the 'Combat Map' as called by the Engineers who designed her. It showed the SABRE squadron, lead by the Arbiter's Seraph starfighter, the _Sunrider_ and the Pirate squadron, lead by Havoc. The fighter craft closed in fast toward the Pirate squadron, flying in a loose wedge formation. All of this was real-time. Kayto nodded to Ava, then demanded "Enemy Effective."

"A small squadron of three pirate bombers, lead of course by our friend, Havoc." Ava said, tapping commands on the screen "Also, two enemy cruisers on fast approach toward us. They seem to be carrying missiles too." Ava looked to Kayto "Orders?"

"Shoot straight for Havoc." Kayto said, grinning "She's a little girl... Maybe a show of force will put her in her place."

Ava sighed "Captain, please don't underestimate the enemy."

Outside, the squadron of eight fighters, lead by the Arbiter's Seraph, moved at top speed toward the enemy squadron. The large mechanized suits that lay ahead of them had thick armor and deadly weaponry, including laser trinites shaped as a sort of rifle, with two barrels extending from their hands. The Arbiter banked upward, his beetle-like craft's tail wiggling as he moved upward, a trail of blue plasma being left behind. Lances of Cobalt energy knifed past the fighter, its shields flaring as the beams shot past him. He tapped his communications array on his fighter and sent a message to the Spartans.

"I believe it is time to scatter! Engage separate targets!" He said, banking toward the enemy squadrons.

"AYE!" The Spartans barked over com. He saw all of them scatter, then heard the loud roar of missiles echo in the void as the Spartans fired their mini-helldart packages at the enemy bombers. Balls of fire blossomed atop one of the enemy Ironhog destroyers' hull. It meant no shield was present on the damn thing. The Arbiter arched 'up' then 'down'. His fighter roared toward the damaged Ironhog and he heated his plasma weapons. The twin ionized-gas/energy weapons' tips heated from a dull red, to a burning orange, then to a blinding white. The containment fields whirred and the Arbiter squeezed the trigger.

Dozens of small pulse shots struck and melted the Ironhog's inferior topside plating. Fires blossomed all across the top of its hull and two Fuel Rod shots from the Arbiter's fighter struck with force against the thing's hull. Emerald fires erupted across its top and the Seraph banked past it, arching down, so close to its hull the Arbiter caught a glance of the bridge crew silhouettes as they milled about, trying to figure out a course of action to save them from this onslaught. The loud clangs of the frontal Savior cannons roared, kinetic shots gutting straight through the enemy ship's front and exiting through the back. Detonations ensued from front to back of the craft and finally, a bright orange blaze took its place, like a second sun, then died into darkness.

Aboard his fighter, Six kept an eye locked on Veronica's fighter and the other on his sight as the Havoc fired its FLAK Gatling toward them. Explosions blossomed so close to Six' hull he could feel the heat and Shrapnel pinging off his SABRE's energy shields. He banked toward Havoc and spun up his own dual thirty-milimeter cannons and frontal rocket pod. Pressing his pointer against the trigger, the dual Thirties roared to life, striking the Havoc's back with precision. A round of missiles came shortly after. The three mini-helldart rockets still packed enough a punch to take down a solid tanking Ryder, those made to receive mass amounts of damage. Explosions blossomed low and high as the Rockets missed their target and six passed the enemy craft.

Looking up, he saw his sister's right-most engine smoking. Looking toward it, he saw Shrapnel had stuck itself in the engine and her shield was failing, so he shot upward toward her and then toward Havoc, facing the ugly thing head-on. His twin thirties roared again, depleted uranium rounds bouncing off and denting the hull of the Bomber-class Leader Pirate. His Heads-Up display flared orange and showed he had damage too. The inner-right engine had stopped working for him as Shrapnel was caught straight in its muffle. He tilted his craft toward another enemy Mook-class Fighter Ryder heading toward them... It heaved its laser cannon up and fired, cobalt beams hitting the front of the craft, dissipating off its energy shielding... It read 43% on the shield counter.

 _Another shot like that and I'm fucked... These things were designed to withstand a few dozen single-shot plasma rounds, not beams of it..._ Six thought, banking up beside his sister, then dodging another shot meant for both of them. His sister's plane banked hard and its twin thirties roared too, but the shots missed their mark and the two split as they nearly hit the enemy Ryder. Trinity lasers plastered onto its stomach, where the main reactor resided, and etched criss-crossing patterns on the enemy Mech. It shattered, exploding not-too-soon after in a heap of dark-blue fire. Beside the Spartans and Arbiter, banked a heavily armed Ryder. It had an almost-Ceran color scheme. Red, white and Black. It banked up beside Veronica and the pilot appeared ahead of them on com consoles and resolved into the image of a girl.

The girl had bright-red hair, emerald eyes and a relaxed smile on her face as she scanned the Spartans and the bridge crew of the _Sunrider._ She smirked, then made a strange V-pose, victory pose and smirked.

" _Cavalry's here, ladies and gents!"_ She smirked, then banked up beside the _Sunrider_ and shot a pair of Helldarts from the second Ironhog down before they struck the ship.

" _Who the hell is that?!"_ They heard Kayto demand through com, as shocked as them as they looked at the girl.

" _I am a Hero of Justice! Pilot of this here fine Ryder you see before ya, the Black Jack!"_ The girl said. Atop her Ryder, four Trinity Lasers extended out toward Havoc. She flicked a few switches on, then said " _Devastation, at the speed 'a light_!" As her Lasers fired. The beams of energy lit up the night sky and struck across the front of the Bomber, cutting a pattern into its frontal armor. Sparks erupted from its breastplate and they heard the Havoc Pilot's voice say something that made them relax after this fight they'd went through.

" _tsch... Fall back... These bastards ain't worth_ it!"

Much to their relief, they saw what they'd heard was true... The enemy pirates fell back with haste.

" _All wings, return to the_ Sunrider." Cortana's voice echoed over com, calmly. " _Black Jack, you are clear to land."_

 _"And to explain yourself..."_ Ava growled over the com, making Veronica grin. All fighters banked back inward and went to their respective landing sites. Six craft locked into place back into a cradle under the ship's stomach, stuck between three-meter-thick Titanium-A Plating. He stepped off his craft and started running toward the main Hangar, joined by the others. As he walked inside, he saw the strange Ryder, Black Jack, landed, feet-first onto the Titanium-A Plating that separated them from another deck. He sighed, then walked toward the captain, to see him talking to the young girl that saved them. She stopped, turned and waved to him, then looked back at Kayto.

"Soz, whaddaya say, Capt'n? Permission to stay aboard as _Sunrider's_ first active pilot?" She smirked and Six could only laugh, seeing Ava rubbing her forehead. Kayto nodded, then looked to the Arbiter walk on-deck. The girl turned toward the alien and stood frozen for a good few minutes. She blushed, then grinned and squealed loudly in surprise and happiness, almost deafening Six even through his helmet.

"OH MY GOD YOU GOT AN ALIEN ON BOARD!" She said, looking at the hunchback alien, laughing like a giddily school girl as she scanned every small detail in his armor, all whilst asking several questions. The Arbiter planted a palm on his forehead, then looked to the captain and said calmly as he brandished his Energy Sword, Prophets' Bane, showing it to the girl to keep her entertained. "Will we have to deal with every girl you bring aboard the same way, Captain?"

That made Kayto blush to say the least. The Arbiter huffed, probably trying not to laugh as he walked away, his hand on his Energy Sword's holster as he slung it on his hip. The girl looked to Six and extended her hand "Hello there!"

Six reluctantly shook her hand and nodded "Call me Six..."

"And ya can call me Asaga, buddy-boy." She smirked, then walked off with Ava.

"What the fuck did you do, captain?" Six inquired, looking at Kayto, who shrugged.

"If I had an idea, Lieutenant... Tell the others we're headed to Tydaria... As luck would have it, Asaga actually has a friend of hers working in the ship repair business..."

"Aye..." Six said, saluting. He walked off, laughing himself "Man... I'm willing to bet my ass this is gonna go like those Anime I was introduced to on Cera... Fucking Harems..."

 _If you had a single idea, god fucking dammit..._


	4. Chigara

_**Mess Hall aboard the**_ **Sunrider.**

As the Spartans stared outward at Tydaria, what they saw was a barren planet, much like Mars, awaiting for them. Orange atmosphere with dust clouds swirling around it filled the lateral viewport as the seven soldiers and the Elite stared on outside, while, in a geosynchronous orbit around the planet, were large habitat/space elevators with docs, that held both Mining Guild and Civilian ships alike, whilst the Space Elevators were continuously running, ferrying supplies up and down from the planet's surface, from precious ores to be processed in the refineries around the place, to civilian miners and their gear.

"Huh... Reminds me of Mars." Six muttered, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"More like Reach post-glassing to me." Kat shot back, staring out of he holographic viewports of the Mess Hall hallway as she leaned against it. Jorge chuckled, then shook his head and said "Hey, now. Not nice, Kat." And he walked off. Six looked to Kat, who shrugged and said "I'll go apologize to him soon..." To which Seven shrugged and said "I agree with you, though... Totally looks like Reach post-being burned..."

* * *

 _ **Bridge.**_

Sitting atop the bridge, his arms crossed, the Arbiter watched as, on the forward viewports, the mining planet of Tydaria appeared, the bright orange dustbowl it was. The alien walked up beside the Captain and Commander, then looked to the Holo-pad and asked "AI, what can you tell us of this planet?" calmly. Cortana's avatar flickered to life, with a grin on her face, then she said "Well, two things. It's one of the biggest mining ops I've seen to date in this Galaxy and two, this place is chock-full of Habitats." And she looked ahead. "We're at the coordinates. Hailing the workshop."

Asaga nonchalantly walked inside, a striding gait, then crossed her arms to her chest and grinned. The girl, still clad in her flight-suit, watched one of the holographic screens flicker, then a vocal modulation and volume counting system appeared. "Hail answered." Cortana stated. The group heard the voice of a young girl play through the speakers of the ship. " _Hello and welcome to the Stardust bakery, biggest pastry shop around Tydaria. May I take your order?"_

Kayto and Thel shot inquisitive glances toward the redheaded girl, while Ava glared daggers and murmured, voice full of venom "I knew we shouldn't have trusted her..." To which the captain raised his hand and said "Now, now, Commander..." And he brought his com bracelet up to his hand, then said "Uhh... Hello? This is the CSF _Sunrider..._ We heard from one of your friends that this place was actually a repair shop... What do you mean 'pastries'?"

The girl's voice could be heard as she sighed, then started " _Well, for starters, we sell the best, most fresh pastries around. From sandwiches to cupcakes and even actual cakes, we've got it all for the tired worker of Tydaria to enjoy a day off, and of course for people from the outside too..."_ And then they could hear a small gasp. Her voice turned a bit more smug as she added " _We might also do Starship repairs from time to time... Please, do dock and show me the damage."_

The Arbiter looked to the two, then nodded and said "I would suppose it would be best if we headed for the Docking Rings at the Hangar, to encounter the young Engineer." And Ava nodded, then looked to Kayto and stated in her usually calm and serious demeanor "I and Cortana will be running diagnostics on the ship, captain. You, the Arbiter and miss Oakrun go meet her friend." then darted her eyes back to her console. Cortana looked to Kayto, then smiled and nodded "Go ahead, sir."

"Alright..." Kayto said, standing up from his seat and straightening his uniform. He looked to his two companions then calmly said "Let's go."

Walking off-deck through into the turbolift, which was guarded by two Ceran Marines armed with MA5C Assault Rifles, Kayto leaned against the railing after pressing the button and looked to his two comrades. Thel nodded to Kayto, then looked to Asaga and said "So, miss Oakrun. You seem somewhat of a... As the humans aboard the UNSC Ship and those aboard the _Sunrider_ would put it 'bang to your buck' with your Ryder. How much money do you earn per se?"

Asaga grinned, then answered the arbiter pridefully "'Bout 2-3000 Creds per contract. Heard some new ship's been stirring the Pirates' nests around too."

"Indeed." The Arbiter nodded his elongated head "The UNSC _Infinity_ , another grand Ally to our cause. Them and my ship are currently busy preparing to attack a PACT Outpost nearby."

"So, you guys working with the Cerans then?" Asaga inquired happily. She looked to Kayto, who nodded and said "Yeah. The _Infinity_ and the Arbiter's ship, _Shadow of Intent_ have been allied with us for about..." The Captain's thoughts ran to his first meeting with the Arbiter and the crews of the two mighty dreadnaughts, then he smiled and finished off happily "Five years, actually."

"It is also how long I've know the Captain for." Thel added gallantly. "Him and Commander Crescentia have been friends since they were in their final years in the tertiary educational institutions." And, to that saying, Asaga gave the Arbiter a confused Look.

"High School." Kayto explained, walking up beside them.

"Oooh~." The girl smirked "Cool!"

The door slid apart, to which Asaga walked out first into the massive hangar, followed by Thel and, finally, Kayto. Looking around, the group saw the Marines and NOBLE Team moving to the docking ring, weapons loaded, but safeties on. Asaga looked to Kayto as they walked toward the Ring, then said "Come on, Capt'n, pull the boys back! Chigara'll get scared! You don't scare Geniuses!"

"Alright, alright, Marines!" Kayto yelled immediately after. "Pull back, would you? We don't wanna greet a new guest with a squad that's armed to the teeth!" And everyone snapped-to, then saluted and nodded. Kayto walked up to the doors of the docking ring with Asaga and Arbiter flanking him, and watched the calm gait of a young girl, clad in a blue flight suit and a labcoat above, with a Holo-pad in hand, a petite figure, dark-blue eyes and chin-length lilac hair. On her face, shock registered as she scanned The Arbiter, whose beady amber and snake-like eyes stared at her. The alien blinked, then nodded to her and looked to Kayto and added "That would be the Engineer, I suppose."

"Indeed." Kayto nodded, then heard Asaga squeak and yell "CHIGARAAAA~!" Throwing her hands up in the air happily. The girl charged her friend, who turned, gasped and, looking worried, took the brunt of the impact from the hug Asaga gave her. Hands clasped around her friend's shoulder, Chigara chuckled, then said "Good to see you too, Asaga." As her comrade backed off and grinned. Chigara swept the large hangar bay with her gaze, catching the glances of every Ceran Marine and Spartan around. Her heart was beating out of her chest as she saw so many soldiers, clad in white armors and with those strange Assault Rifles. Her gaze locked, first, upon the Alien in the room.

The Arbiter stared right back, while the girl looked on, her sapphire eyes wide with disbelief. Thel could well have guessed this was the first time Asaga, much more her friend, Chigara, saw something other than Human faces. The Hunchback alien walked up to her, towering well over her and bent his neck as low as he could to look upon the young girl. To her, he was like a menacing giant, clad in a golden-shining armor. The creature's mandibles bent into a small smile, not a grin or something scary, as he extended his hand toward the girl. His teeth were still showing, but still, his four-fingered, extended hand received a clasp from the girl's much smaller hand. The two 'shook on it' as the Humans would say, then the Arbiter took a step back, showing the girl he meant no harm.

"Hello." Stated the Alien calmly. Chigara's heart skipped a beat as she scrambled for an answer in her brain. She meekly answered with a squeaky "Hi..." as excitement bottled up inside her. She looked at him, then her smile widened into an officially massive, dorky grin as she yelled "THEY HAVE AN ALIEN ABOARD THIS SHIP!" Jumping in the air for joy. Asaga burst into laughter and looked at her, then patted her on the back and said "Yup-tee-do. Arbie here's in charge of his own ship, but his crew's not around, sadly!"

"It's 'Arbiter', miss Oakrun." Corrected the alien, crossing his arms. "Or Thel 'Vadam if you prefer saying my name."

Chigara nodded, then introduced herself gallantly "I'm Chigara Lynn-Ashada, proud owner of the Stardust Bakery:the best place to find any pastry goods you might be looking for!" And she bowed quickly "An honor to meet you, Arbiter!"

Kayto chuckled from behind the Alien, then walked beside him. "Well, looks like you're getting all the girls, Thel." He butted in with a wide grin, to which Vadam sighed and placed a palm upon his face, rubbing his temples with his elongated fingers. He turned toward the Captain and tilted his hunchback posture toward Chigara and murmured to the captain in somewhat of a growl "I'd presume you needed to talk to her about the repairs to your vessel, Captain."

"Right." Kayto nodded to the Sangheilli. He walked toward Chigara as the girl turned to greet him, then said "Hello, miss Chigara. I'm Captain Kayto Shields."

The girl stared at him and blushed, then nodded and squeezed out another, somewhat squeaky "Hello..." As they shook hands. He nodded to her, then asked "What's with this place being a Pastry shop?"

"W-Well, here in Tydaria, if you need any sort of pastry, sandwiches, cupcakes, pies and that kind of thing, you come to the Stardust bakery!" She smiled passionately, thinking about it "It has been my dream since I was a child to open a pastry shop and I finally did it here!"

"And how's business?" Inquired one of the Spartans, Six, from beside the Captain. Chigara bowed her head, shook it and said "Not very good... Everyone seems to want their starship being fixed more than anything tasty to eat."

"So why not just make a drydock?" Inquired Kayto, crossing his arms. He struggled to swallow as he saw a pang of sadness in the girl's expression. Asaga threw her hand over her friend's shoulder and shouted out "C'mon, Capt'n, don't shut down a girl's dream like that! Chigara's pastries are awesome!" pointing menacingly at Kayto. The Captain rubbed the back of his neck, feeling awkward.

"No, no, Asaga." Chigara said, lifting her gaze from the ground "The captain might be right... Plus, it's bad enough having to make and sell pastries next to Starship fuel."

"I... Actually think that's Illegal..." Six said, looking toward the girl. She shrugged and looked to them, then said "I scanned your ship. Most of the damage is external and cosmetic, so nothing we can't handle. The welded Trinity Beam Batteries won't be a problem either. I have restoration drones at the ready... I'll make the check now if you desire, because I've got pre-made estimates from the scan."

"Great." Kayto said, his smile returning.

"And whilst she's fixin' the ship, she'll also fix up a few pastries!" Asaga butted in, holding her friend by the shoulder.

"Right." Chigara nodded "Consider them free for the ship repair."

"Well... Sure, I guess... But can you handle it?" The captain asked, crossing his arms.

"Oh boy..." Six murmured from behind his helmet, walking back to NOBLE "I'll be outta the place, sir."

Chigara grinned, then looked to the captain and asked "Got anything that isn't working properly?" And the captain nodded, pointing at a broken device in the corner. "That power converter there. It runs the whole Hangar's power supply and..." A light flickered off and on behind him, followed by several lights doing the same as he cringed "Yeah... That... Since we had to overload our shields to survive somewhat of a blast from a Magnetic Energy Cannon, a lot of our electrical circuitry blew, including that."

Chigara cracked her knuckles, slid her engineer's goggles on and grabbed a multi-tool from her labcoat's pocket, then walked toward it and knelt. She pulled a panel off the system, ran her hands over it, then found the problem and nodded. "Cut here and..." She murmured as her tool lit up red, sparks flying off. Kayto moved toward her, worried, then yelled "Hey, hey! That's an open circuit! You can't just-" and he cut off as the generator whirred to life and the lighting around became normal yet again. She twirled her multi-tool in her hand, slid it in her pocket, then stood up and said "Relay efficiency increased by at least twenty percent... That's the best I can do until I recover the rest of my kit."

Kayto, eyes wide, looked to Asaga as she grabbed her friend and pulled her into a tight bear hug, then said "See, told ya Chig's a genius!" Jovially, to which Chigara panted and said "Asaga... Chest... Pressure... Can't breathe..." And her friend chuckled and let her go, then placed a hand on her shoulder and said "C'mon, Chigs! I'll help ya carry your gear right now and we can deal with the rest."

"Why don't I like the way she said that?" Asked Kayto, looking to Thel as the girls walked away. The alien shook his head, then said "Because it usually does not bode well... Did she not ask to stay with us after we dealt with some pirates?"

"Yeah... Off the record..." Kayto nodded... "Oh..."


End file.
